March 20, 1996
VIA UPS OVERNIGHT
Philip Viscomi & Keith Ryan
March 20, 1996
Page 1
Philip Viscomi
630 E. 102nd Street, Apt. 4F
Brooklyn, NY 11236
Keith J. Ryan
88-22 249th Street
Queens, NY 11426
Pat DeFelice, Trustee
Teamsters Local Union 138
10-38 Jackson Avenue
Long Island City, NY 11101
Arthur A. Wasserman
352 7th Avenue, Suite 1243
New York, NY 10001
Philip Viscomi & Keith Ryan
March 20, 1996
Page 1
Re: Election Office Case No. P-609-LU138-NYC
Gentlemen:
A pre-election protest was filed pursuant to Article XIV, Section 2(b) of the Rules for the 1995-1996 IBT International Union Delegate and Officer Election (“Rules”) by
Phil Viscomi and Keith J. Ryan, candidates for delegate and alternate delegate, respectively, in Local Union 138. They are protesting that the Notice of Nominated Candidates was produced with local union funds and delivered to work sites by Michael Ruscigno, a delegate candidate. The protesters further allege that they filed a slate-declaration form in a timely fashion with the Election Office, yet the Notice of Nominated Candidates did not list them properly as a slate. The protesters are requesting that the notice be revised to indicate their status as a slate and reposted on union bulletin boards.
This protest was investigated by New York City Protest Coordinator Barbara Deinhardt.
Pursuant to Article II, Section 6 of the Rules, all local unions are required to post the Notice of Nominated Candidates on all union bulletin boards. Since the Rules require that local unions use their resources to duplicate and post notices, Local Union 138 did not violate the Rules by using local union resources to perform these tasks.
Philip Viscomi & Keith Ryan
March 20, 1996
Page 1
On Saturday, February 24, 1996, the nomination meeting was held for Local
Union 138. The protesters were nominated and accepted their nominations at the meeting. They submitted a slate-declaration form declaring themselves the Rank and File slate. This was received by the Election Office on February 26, 1996, which was within three days after the nomination meeting pursuant to Article IX, Section 1(c) of the Rules. However, the Rank and File slate’s declaration form was incorrectly routed within the Election Office in Washington, D.C. and not forwarded to Regional Coordinator Arthur Wasserman in a timely fashion.
Since the slate declaration was timely filed, the protesters’ Rank and File slate has been advised by the Election Office that they are recognized as a slate and will appear as a slate on the ballot. On March 14, 1996, Mr. Wasserman conducted the lottery for slate positions on the ballot between the Rank and File slate and the Working Teamsters For Ron Carey slate. In accordance with the results of this lottery, Mr. Wasserman has required Local Union 138 to revise the Notice of Nominated Candidates to include the protesters as a slate and to repost this revised notice on all union bulletin boards.
Accordingly, the protest is RESOLVED.
Any interested party not satisfied with this determination may request a hearing before the Election Appeals Master within one day of receipt of this letter. The parties are reminded that, absent extraordinary circumstances, no party may rely upon evidence that was not presented to the Office of the Election Officer in any such appeal. Requests for a hearing shall be made in writing and shall be served on:
Kenneth Conboy, Esq.
Latham & Watkins
885 Third Avenue, Suite 1000
New York, NY 10022
Fax (212) 751-4864
Copies of the request for hearing must be served on the parties listed above as well as upon the Election Officer, 400 N. Capitol Street, Suite 855, Washington, DC 20001, Facsimile
(202) 624-3525. A copy of the protest must accompany the request for a hearing.
Sincerely,
Barbara Zack Quindel
Election Officer
cc: Kenneth Conboy, Election Appeals Master
Barbara C. Deinhardt, New York City Protest Coordinator